Gone Mad
by ArtemisJPotter
Summary: This is a scene in Order of The Phoenix that I decided to make up for fun. Harry Potter, driven to insanity by the Daily Prophet's lies about him, decides to take out his anger on the ones responsible: The Ministry of Magic. Let's just say that the Ministry did not expect to see him, especially with the way he approaches them...


"WHAT THE-?" Harry Potter stared down shockingly at Hermione Granger's latest copy of The Daily Prophet. As with every issue, more lies about Harry bluffing about Voldemort's return had been printed. In this issue, there was a even nastier post about the Chosen One.

Harry was staring, outraged, at the title of the first article on the page: HARRY POTTER: THE BOY WHO LIVED TO TELL LIES?

Hermione seemed nervous that Harry was so on edge-his mood the past few weeks had not exactly been pleasant..."Its not that bad, Harry," Hermione insisted.

"Yeah," Ron Weasley piped in, his voice becoming unsteady. "And the article's junk. They say stuff about how you lost your mind and became an attention-seeking brat-"

"Ron!" Hermione gasped, alarmed that Harry would now read the article and become outraged. "Harry, pay no attention to him, I'm sure he's making some of it up-"

But it was too late. In an instant Harry snatched the paper in his hands and flipped to the beginning of the article. He began to read it out loud:

"Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived To Tell Lies? That's what several people have been telling the Prophet. It appears that the spoiled brat won't stop until he receives all the attention he _thinks _he deserves."

At this Harry stopped, his eyes widening. "What?" he demanded. "I'm not a spoiled brat!"

"We know, Harry," Hermione said desperately, edging towards the end of the article to take it out of Harry's hands. "Maybe you should just put it down-"

Harry ignored Hermione's warning and continued reading the article. "Last week, our resources told us that Harry Potter himself was boasting about his past conquests. 'I fought a troll!' the boy bragged. 'I learned to cast a Patronus in my third year at Hogwarts! I won the Triwizard Tournament when I was fourteen year olds! I defeated the Dark Lord three times and didn't die!"

Harry slammed the article down on the table. "I _never _said this!" he bellowed. His anger seemed to be rising by the minute, which was starting to scare his friends.

"We know, mate," Ron said tentatively, sharing a nervous glance with Hermione. "Maybe Hermione's right, maybe you should just stop reading-"

"No!" Harry shouted with so much fire than Hermione and Ron nearly jumped out of their skin. "If they're saying bad things about me, I have to know!" Ignored their tentative glances, Harry scanned the paper again and went on:

"'It's very clear that the boy has lost his mind," a representative from our resources told us. 'I saw him blabbing about how he was better than the Ministry of Magic and that they were jealous of him. It disgusts me to see such a boy filled with so much vanity."

Harry's eyes nearly fell out of his sockets, but he somehow felt obligated to finish the article. "It's shocking to see that Harry Potter is so obnoxious. All we can hope for is that Harry Potter receives a reality check and gets the physiological help he needs."

Harry's mouth dropped open at the last part. Rage suddenly swelled up inside him, causing the Chosen One to ball up the newspaper in his hands and tear it to pieces. Hermione and Ron gaped at Harry as the shreds of paper fell to the ground.

"Harry," Hermione began, sounding as if she was trying to calm him down again, "please, it's just a bunch of rubbish-"

"You're darn right it is!" Harry snapped hotly. "I cannot _believe_ the Prophet! They're always printing lies about me!" He started to intimidate their voices. 'Oh, Harry's a selfish little boy!' 'Harry's lost his mind!' Who do they think they are, anyway?!" he suddenly demanded.

Ron gulped as he stared at his angry friend. "Calm down, Harry," he began, his voice quivering. "The Prophet's just rubbish, like Hermione said. Besides," he suddenly added, "if you're gonna be mad at someone it should be the Ministry of Magic, they're the ones who said you were crazy in the first place-"

"Ron!" Hermione snapped, flashing Harry an alarmed look again. She was hoping that he wouldn't lose his temper anymore.

But once again, it was too late.

Eyes lighting up, Harry suddenly shouted. "You're right-it _is _the Ministry's fault! They're the ones who said that the return of Voldemort was all a lie!" Hermione and Ron gasped at Harry's mention of Voldemort, but the irate teenager ignored them. "You know what?" Harry began, his temper flaring up again, "I'm going to march into the Ministry's office and tell them exactly how I feel!"

At once, Harry began to march out of the grand castle of Hogwarts and head towards the exit. Realizing what he was doing, Ron and Hermione suddenly hurried after him.

"Have you gone mad?" Ron bursted out.

"You can't be serious, Harry!" Hermione agreed.

"And you can't just storm into the Ministry of Magic's building and tell them off!"

"Oh yeah?" Harry challenged, not bothering to glance at his friends. "Watch me."

Harry soon made his way towards the Ministry of Magic's building. He did not bother to look at the people staring right at him, as if he were some sort of madman.

_Where are you? _Harry wondered impatiently, flicking his head around to see if he could find the Minister of the horrible organization, Cornelius Fudge. Surely he had to be somewhere.

Harry suddenly stopped in his track when he realized he had passed by a door. Taking a few steps backwards, he turned around and saw that the door led to Cornelius Fudge's office. _There you are!_ Harry thought viciously. Charging towards the door, Harry slammed it opened.

Harry glanced hastily around the room until his eyes fell on a man sitting down at a desk. Harry guessed he must have been Cornelius Fudge and approached him angrily.

"Hello," Cornelius began slowly, obviously wondering why Harry Potter, of all people, was standing in his office. "What can I-"

Before Cornelius even got a chance to finish his sentence, Harry slammed his hands on the desk and glowered at the Minister. "What is wrong with you people?" he demanded. "Do you hate me or something?"

Cornelius stared at Harry blankly "I'm sorry," he began, "I'm not sure I understand-"

"Oh, don't play dumb with me!" Harry retorted. "I know you're the 'resource' who has been telling the Daily Prophet lies about me!"

Cornelius just stared at Harry. "You don't have any proof-"

At this Harry pulled his out wand and pointed it at Cornelius's neck, causing the Minister to freeze in fear. "Don't. You. Lie. To. Me," Harry whispered in a deadly voice. "I know it was you., Cornelius!" Who else would insist that I was a 'spoiled brat' who has 'lost his mind'?"

Cornelius swallowed hard. "Please put the wand down," he pleaded.

"No!" Harry shouted, pushing his wand closer to Cornelius's throat. "I won't leave you alone until you have to hear what I say!"

Cornelius shrugged his shoulders at Harry. "Which is?" he prompted, sounding as if he was willing to do anything to get out of his current situation.

Harry's eyes glowered with rage. "YOU DON'T KNOW?!" he shouted, his lungs burning as he spoke. "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW? HAVE YOU EVEN BEEN LISTENING TO WHAT I'VE BEN SAYING?!"

The captive man looked absolutely horrified. "Please, "he spluttered, "people are trying to work here, you're being too loud-"

"OH NO, YOU DON'T GET TO DO THAT!" Harry bellowed, so loudly that his voice echoed throughout the entire building. "YOU DON'T GET TO TELL ME WHAT I CAN DO WHEN YOU'VE RUINED MY LIFE! DO YOU KNOW ALL OF THE CRAP I'VE BEEN THROUGH THIS YEAR? DO YOU EVEN KNOW?!"

Cornelius let out a short breath, barely being able to speak with the wand Harry had at his throat. "No," he began, "I don't-"

"YOU RUINED MY LIFE!" Harry repeated, his voice rising with every word he spoke. "EVER SINCE YOU SAID THAT I WAS LYING ABOUT VOLDEMORT'S RETURN, PEOPLE HAVE BEEN CALLING ME MAD! AND DON'T YOU SHUDDER LIKE THAT!" Harry growled when Cornelio us shivered at Voldemort's name. "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ACT ALL INNOCENT WHEN YOU KNOW YOU'VE SCREWED ME OVER! BECAUSE OF YOU, I CAN'T READ THE DAILY PROPHET WITHOUT SEEING SOME CRAP ABOUT ME LYING FOR ATTENTION!"

"ANSWER ME THIS!" Harry suddenly demanded, his voice still heavy and loud, "WHY WOULD I LIE ABOUT VOLDEMORT'S RETURN?"

Cornelius gaped at Harry, obviously petrified with shock. "B-because-"Cornelius stammered, fumbling to answer Harry's question . "B-because-"

"SPEAK. UP!" Harry bellowed. "WHY WOULD I, THE PERSON WHO WAS NEARLY KILELD BY THE DARK LORD, THE BOY WHO LIVED, LIE ABOUT VOLDEMORT RETURNING? WHAT DO I HAVE TO GAIN FROM THAT? ANSWER ME!"

Cornelius trembled violently. "I don't know!" he whimpered.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I THINK?" Harry screeched, a hint of sarcasm coloring his tone, "I THINK-NO, I KNOW-YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S LYING! I THINK YOU DON'T WANT TO ADMIT THAT VOLDEMORT'S RETURNED BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO SCARED!" He suddenly turned around, glancing to see people standing right outside of the Minster's office with gaping mouths. "THAT'S RIGHT!" Harry flared at them. "YOU'RE ALL SCARED OF VOLDEMORT! THE MINISTRY IS FULL OF A BUNCH OF SCARED, YELLOW-BELLIED CHICKENS WHO CAN'T STAND TO BELIEVE THAT AN EVIL LORD'S RETURNED! AND MEANWHILE," Harry added rather vigorously, "I AM BUSY BEING ATTACKED BY DEMENTORS, PEOPLE ARE GETTING KILLED, AND SO MUCH MORE CHAOS IS HAPPENING BECAUSE THE MINISTRY IS REFUSING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT A CRISIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING! THAT'S RIGHT!" Harry roared, pointing to each person he saw right outside the office, "YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF SELFISH COWARDS WHO WOULD RATHER PRETEND THAT A TRHEAT DOESN'T EXIST SO THAT YOU WON'T WORRY YOURSELVES!" He started spitting the last words out: "CRY. ME. A. RIVER!"

Suddenly, three men who looked like security guards rushed into the office, glancing around. "What's all the racket?" one of them demanded.

The three officers gasped at what they saw: Harry Potter still had his wand aimed at Cornelius Fudge's throat, looking as if he was willing to slit his throat.

Harry turned around to face the guards, looking unalarmed. "OH, YOU GOT YOUR SECURITY GUARDS TO BACK YOU UP?!" he bellowed, glancing at Cornelius for a second before turning back to the guards. "WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO, ARREST ME FOR MARCHING INTO THE MINISTRY'S OFFICE AND THREATENING THE MINISTER?"

"That's exactly what we're going to do!" one of guards snapped. Suddenly the officrs pulled out three individual wands and casted a spell on Harry. Harry had no idea what charm they just had used, but whatever it was had somehow restrained him from moving his muscles.

The security guards put their wands back and stepped over to Harry. "I'll take that," one of them retorted, snatching Harry's wand out of his hands. He gestured to his fellow officers. "You two, take him out of here, now." Turning to the Minister, he said, "We'll deal with him, sir."

Harry didn't even flinch as the officers drug him out of the office. "GO AHEAD-DO IT!" he shouted-apparently the spell hadn't frozen the muscles in his mouth. "IT'S ALL OKAY WITH ME! ONE OF THESE DAYS YOU'LL SEE I'M RIGHT!"

And at the least, he had finally called the Ministry of Magic out on who they really were. That was more than enough for The Boy Who Lived.


End file.
